Shopping

For designer goods and bargain prices head for the Bridgend Designer Outlet - the biggest in Wales. Over 90 shops offering the latest fashions, outdoor clothing and sportswear all at a fraction of the high street cost. There are also plenty of cafes and coffee shops where you can rest your feet before heading back to the shops.

Southern Wales has not one but two designer outlets – the second being Festival Park at Ebbw Vale. Built on the site of the 1992 Garden Festival, there are over 40 shops, a garden centre, a café and even an Owl Sanctuary.

Cardiff is a shopper’s paradise. Hundreds of shops lining leafy pedestrianised streets make shopping here a really pleasurable experience. The relatively compact shopping district means you don’t have far to walk between shops. The main shopping street is Queen Street together with the undercover malls of St David’s Shopping Centre, Capitol Centre and the Queens Arcade. It is here that you’ll find all the latest high street names. But what really sets Cardiff apart from other towns and cities are its famous Edwardian and Victorian arcades. Too numerous to mention but the more popular ones are the Morgan Arcade and Castle Arcade. It is in these arcades that you will find the small independent retailers where you can often pick up local produce or crafts and be assured of a personalised service - it is quite often shops like these that give a city the size of Cardiff its friendly village feel.

The town of Cowbridge in the picturesque Vale of Glamorgan is ideal if you’re looking for something a little different. Unique shops line the high street selling the latest designer goods.

Southern Wales is full of craft centres where you can usually pick up something unique that is local to the area. Among the best is the Abbey Mill craft centre at Tintern in the stunning Wye Valley.